


The girls of my life

by Alekzie



Category: Saints Row
Genre: Canon Universe, F/F, Saints Row 1, Saints Row 2 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-11-23 19:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11409132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alekzie/pseuds/Alekzie
Summary: Playa, a scared 19 year old who joins the saints because she feels like she owes her saviors, starts to deal not only with the increasing violence in Stilwater, but with the odd feelings she has for one of her homies.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! If you are reading this I greet you and thank you warmly.
> 
> Saints Row has been one of the few videogames with a story that managed to captivate me, so here it is a little tribute.
> 
> I shall warn these are the first series of fanfics I write in English, for this is not my native language.

THE GIRLS OF MY LIFE  
-Her name was Lin-

Playa never thought she would end up in this situation. She was calmly heading back home when she found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, but she got some unexpected help that made her escape her imminent death. Julius Little and Troy saved her ass and now she felt she owed them, so there she was, a young 19 year old girl so scared she couldn’t even talk, accepting to be canonized and joining a new street gang to cleanse Stilwater from the increasing violence.  
The new member of the saints learnt to keep a poker face and do as she was told. Being a woman in a gang where 95% of the people were male was hard enough already, so she had to double her courage and pretend like she didn’t fear death. It was true that she was developing some sort of affection for Julius, who became her mentor and some sort of father figure, but she thought he’d be the only one with that privilege… until she saw Lin.  
Man, wasn’t she gorgeous? The girl walked inside the church as soon as the Rollerz were mentioned and everything about her exuded confidence, intelligence and the perfect amount of sexiness.  
“I didn’t think the Rolerz pimped hos”, said some arrogant little prick, trying to make fun of her. Lin’s response? She fucking punched him in the face so hard she knocked him down, throwing out a challenging “Any more comments?” as she looked around. It was in that moment that Playa felt something different that didn’t feel since those innocent silly crushes she had when she was a child.  
For some odd reason she couldn’t stop thinking about her, and that made her feel somewhat confused. She was actually doing that one day outside the church when a familiar voice behind her dragged her out of her thoughts.  
“So you’re Julius’ new favorite one, huh?”  
Playa, who was sitting on the stairs, stood up in a jump and looked slightly startled while a smiling Lin stared at her.   
“Sorry for scaring you, I saw you there and I wanted to be friendly. We don’t have too many other girls around, you know?”  
God, why couldn’t she say something back? She simply nodded shyly to the asian girl, who was wearing the Saints’ colors for a change. If she was annoyed by the other’s lack of words she didn’t show it, she simply approached and sat down next to her. Not wanting to leave her alone she sat down too while looking at her feet.   
“This whole infiltration thing with the Rollerz is so fucking exhausting, those idiots can’t stop talking about cars. One can appreciate a good ride, but hearing all that blabbering all the time…”   
She interrupted herself and the silence made Playa look at her. Again, Lin was staring at her and she had to make a titanic effort to avoid blushing.  
“I see you don’t talk that much… but it’s okay. You don’t have to as long as you feel comfy around me. Girls united?” she raised her fist while smiling again. For the newest member of the Saints this was kind of special, because whenever she saw the other girl around she never smiled and there she was doing exactly that. She bumped her fist and nodded again, mimicking her facial expression without noticing.   
“Good, now that that’s settled… want some freckle bitches? My trait, let’s go”. 

 

And that’s how Lin’s and the silent saint’s friendship was born. It was true that both were busy with each other’s tasks, the girl in the Rollerz colors doing her job collecting information from the enemy gang and playa doing what she was told, mostly by a crazy blood thirsty Johnny Gat, but still they always found time to hang out with each other. The future leader of the saints never knew why she kept their little reunions in secret. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of it, but maybe part of her was just being possessive. She didn’t want anyone to find out Lin actually liked someone enough to invite them over to have a movie night of just drive all the way to the tallest hill in Stilwater to eat junk food as they talked about trivial things, because she didn’t want to share her.  
After doing some stuff against the Vice Kings (Again, following Gat’s orders), playa received a call from Lin.  
“I need to take a break from this madness. So yes, will you deliver me the new parts in 10? See you at the gyros parking lot, laterz”.  
Playa smiled when she heard Lin hanging up, it was so typical of her to try to speak in code whenever someone suspicious was around, but she understood what she meant. By gyros parking lot she was referring indeed to an old and always empty five story parking lot in the latino town, another one of their spots, so after changing clothes to avoid being tracked down by Los Carnales, she drove her old car to the place.  
Lin was already waiting there with a variety of junk food, and it never ceased to amaze her how someone who looked so fit could eat so much of that stuff.  
“What took you so long? Even I had to get rid of some of the boys who insisted to tag along. Had a good day?”  
“Long day”, the other replied with a monotone voice. It took her a couple of months to start talking to the other, and when that happened Lin’s face was so visibly shocked that playa was unable to restrain a sincere burst of laughter. Now the Rollerz infiltrate was used to it, but she never tried to pushed her to talk more. She was… so careful. The silent one also started to notice the contrast of how Lin acted towards others and her. While she was always this cold, strict and confident girl who wouldn’t doubt to punch someone twice her size to defend her pride, when they were alone she was nothing but this kind sweet and smiling girl who had patience with her recurrent silence. The truth was Julius’ new favorite saint felt so protected and comfortable with Lin she didn’t feel as scared and she was able to at least articulate a couple of words.  
Slowly and with not too much effort, she told the other how she successfully retrieved Aisha’s kidnapped sister and other girls from the Vice Kings. Lin smirked and put down her burger, sighing happily.  
“Well, when did you become such a badass? Soon you’ll be stronger than me, sweetie.”  
“I already am.”  
“You little arrogant asshole.”  
Lin suddenly threw herself onto her, either trying to tackle her off the hood of the car or pin her down, but playa hadn’t been lying: She had become stronger and her reflexes were so good she grabbed the other by the shoulders and flipped her, sitting on top of her and pointing at her temple like if she was holding a gun.  
“Bam! You’re dead. Told you I’m stronger than you”, whispered playa with a cocky grin, the first of so many in the future. Lin looked up at her with an amused smirk that started to fade slowly. Why was she breathing so heavily? Wait…she was doing the same thing.  
“Look at you, you got so excited your whole face got red” whispered the asian girl as she lifted a hand to caress her cheek. She didn’t even notice when she leant against it and started to nuzzle it because she was too busy staring at Lin, feeling like her heart was about to escape from her chest when the other tried to sit up to approach her face.  
“W-wait…” she whispered nervously in the last second while shutting her eyes. She felt so fucking stupid, Lin already seemed to think she was shy all the time when in fact she was this loud cocky girl who frequented massage parlors, but that behavior didn’t show up at home, among the saints and…with Lin, apparently.   
She felt surprised when all she felt was a chaste kiss on her forehead and she slowly opened her eyes, but the other had already scooted away and was starting to light a cigarette.   
“Yep, you’re right, now you’re stronger than me. I might have something for you tomorrow if I manage to get some of the guys talk. Would you help me?”  
“Sure”.   
The rest of the time together was spent in talking about Gat and how they both liked him despite his sociopathic nature, and playa had to pretend she couldn’t feel that burning innocent kiss on her forehead anymore.


	2. -Her name was Lin- II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Playa's and Lin's bond keeps becoming stronger, and with it comes a new fear.

Playa went to where she was supposed to meet Lin, and as soon as she walked around the corner she had to rush back and hide because apparently some Rollerz were still with her. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but they were examining the other girl’s car.   
“She totally wants you”, is everything she managed to hear when the gang bangers finally left. It took her a couple of seconds to realize she was clenching her fists, but she took a deep breath and walked out of her hiding spot. Apparently Lin wasn’t in a good mood either judging by the tone of her voice.  
“I swear to God we’re not going to be able to kill these bastards fast enough” said the Asian with a grunt. Somehow she could sense when her friend was around and she didn’t even had to turn back to see her. “Aside from macho bullshit I haven’t heard much. The only interesting news I got is that a shipment of high performance cars is coming in today. It’s not much, I know, so we’re gonna make the best of it. Jack the truck carrying the cars before it makes its delivery and take it to Samson. He’ll load up the cars with a few surprises, then finish the delivery. Now get outta here before someone sees us”.  
The silent one just nodded while trying to hide her disappointment, but she must had made a face because the one in blue clothes looked around before dragging her back to the secluded corner where she came out from seconds later.  
“I know I sounded like a disgusting bossy asshole, I’m sorry. I just don’t trust any other of the guys in the gang with this, and Johnny is good but he drags too much attention. You’re the only one who can do a clean work. What if I….?”  
“Make it up to me tonight?”  
She leant a hand next to Lin’s head while looking at her in the eye with a slight cocky smirk. The other seemed surprised just for a second, but she returned the smirk and lifted her hands to cup playa’s face.  
“Look at this, we’re braver today. Okay, tonight at my place then”.  
“You just gave me a reason to come back alive”.   
“Yeah, cause you coming back dead wouldn’t be satisfying. See ya later, go”.  
And that’s exactly what she did, not before planting a kiss to the other girl’s cheek and walking away. She didn’t even turn back to see her expression, but she herself was smiling like an idiot. She was starting to feel more comfortable with her and her goal was to show her she wasn’t always this scary timid little girl.

To make things short, she just took care of the job the best she could and succeed. She had learnt so much from Johnny, Troy, Dex and some other Saints that she didn’t felt that scared anymore, and for someone who had always been afraid of engage any sort of confrontation or physical fight, this made her feel…powerful. This time she only got a couple of light bruises, but she still managed to drive her new tetsuo (Courtesy of the saints) to Lin’s place. Her apartment was a tiny little thing a couple of minutes away from Chinatown, and the first time she visited it she felt sincerely surprised to know the sexy badass girl lived in such a crammed place, but it looked like as long as she could take care of her car nothing else really mattered.  
Playa left the six of beer on the floor, but before she could knock on the door the other girl opened it. Seriously, what was with her and this sixth sense?  
“You’re late”.  
“I was doing some things for Dex too”.   
“And this is why I tried to keep a low profile when I first joined. But now I’m fucking pretending to be one of the rollerz so that didn’t work that well, right? Come in”.   
She grabbed the beers and moved away so the other could enter. Lin didn’t have a table, only a counter in the small kitchen that was almost right at the entrance, so she left the pizza she was carrying over there and threw herself over the bed, hiding her face with a pillow.   
“I won’t even ask you how your day was” said Lin with an amused smirk as she turned on the tv and went to grab a drink. “Need a massage?”  
“I got one from the massage parlor”.  
“What?”  
“Hey I’ve been visiting that place since I was in highschool, I get discounts”.   
“Well, you just rejected a free offer, your loss”.   
Playa couldn’t restrain a grin as she sat up and started to remove her jacket.   
“If you insist…. I won’t stop ya then”.  
Lin rolled her eyes, but she put her beer down and went to sit right behind her on the bed. Now the recently talkative saint didn’t want to be racist, but she wondered if Lin being Asian had something to do with the girl’s expertise on massages. Yes, the one she got from the massage parlor were pleasant in a /very/ different way, but Lin seemed to know where to apply the exact amount of force to make her sore hurt muscles feel better.  
“Hey Lin… Have you ever wondered if you gonna stay in the saints forever?”  
“Why you asking?” asked the other, still focused on the massage with a surprising professionalism.  
“Well, you already know I’m here cause I feel like I have to pay a debt, but why are you here? Will you ever have enough and just walk away?”  
“Ah sweetie, I have nothing better to do. People always looked me down not only because of my ethnicity, but because I’m a girl. In the process of proving them wrong I just became this and I like it, I might be with the saints forever. It’s not just a matter of loyalty, because sometimes the guys just make it hard for me to want to there, but I also enjoy the whole scenario”.   
Playa stood silent for a couple of seconds. She knew this was a dangerous world, how many times did they have to face lunatics with guns shooting not only rival gangs but innocent civilians as well? She constantly felt like a broken watch, and it was just a matter of time before she suddenly stopped working. The idea of Lin, even Johnny, Dex, Troy or Julius dying was her newest fear. But Lin…  
“Hey…you okay? Oh…” Lin suddenly found herself being tightly hugged by the other girl. Even though at first she looked shocked and confused, she ended up wrapping her muscular slim yet strong arms around her.  
“Need a one minute hug?”  
“Make it ten”.  
“I don’t mind if we make it an hour, you know? What’s going through your head?”  
“Fear of death”, is all she managed to respond quickly, as it was the first thing that came to her mind.   
“Why? You’re such a badass. Sometimes too cocky for your own good, surprisingly, but you are. You gonna be okay, and I promise I long as I’m here no one’s gonna hurt you. Everything’s gonna be okay, so now cheer the fuck up, yes?”.   
She just wanted to tell her how she was fearful of her loved ones deaths and not hers, but it would have been a mess and she knew she would end up talking with a cracked voice, so she just stayed silent. Luckily for her and showing again a kindness she never used with anyone else, Lin held her tighter and kissed the top of her head.  
“Yeah, we definitely gonna stay like this for an hour”.  
Playa’s tense body finally started to relax. To be honest, she lost the notion of time after the first two hours of hugging while watching cheesy movies.


	3. - Her name was Lin III -

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I was going to pay for it, you didn’t had to ask that bitch’s help”.   
> Lin raised a brow. She didn’t look that upset before, but now she looked…curious?  
> “I knew you were jealous”

Playa couldn’t complain at all, she didn’t have any boring days anymore and she finally was getting the hint of this new exciting world. The other saints were starting to recognize her and none of them ever tried to mock her like they tried with Lin, word said this silent dangerous girl was a sociopath just as much as Johnny Gat….and /no one/ wanted to mess with him.   
“Fuck me running, I actually like this” recognized as she entered the night club, her new boost of confidence easily visible in the way she moved and walked. That night she wasn’t wearing her colours just in case…and neither did Lin, but it was easy to spot her because she simply was the most beautiful girl in the place.  
The Asian girl looked around for a second before approaching her and grabbing her hand to lead her to the dance floor, it seemed like she was playing the secret agent game since she was forced to call her friend unexpectedly, and they couldn’t meet in a safe spot.  
“Try not to look so conspicuous” whispered as she faced her. “You have done good, but I’m not done with you yet”.   
Playa placed her hands around her and slowly started to dance following the relaxed tune of the music, just like everyone else. She was trying to keep a poker face because she knew by now Lin could be the sweetest thing with her, but when they were talking about business she was the most committed professional who allowed no jokes. Hell, she /really/ had to put an effort to avoid blushing as they were dancing, why did she have such effect on her?  
“Those cars you stole have been rigged to blow once the engine reaches high enough temperature.”, continued Lin as they danced and casually looked around to spot any potential enemy “I need you to make sure those cars get nice and hot. There’s a race going down in Chinatown tonight, I think you should give them some tough competition. I know these guys. If you’re in the lead for the final stretch, they’re gonna hit the nitrous to blow past you. When they do…” she leaned closer to her, whispering in such a soft way that she felt shivers down her spine “…boom. As soon as those cars are wrecked, get the hell outta there. You’re no good to us dead.”  
After that she changed her expression to a happier joyful one, as she let out a “Thanks for the dance!” but she leant closely again “Now hurry up, you got a race to win”.   
Hell, lately Lin was so fucking easy to read. She tried to keep her cool but she could tell she was tense, either mad, nervous of both. She assumed she was going to rush to ‘work’ again so she tried to leave and do the job as soon as she could, maybe once she was free she could think about something to cheer her up.  
Troy made her company this time, and she was too busy trying to drive at high speed without killing them both that she hardly listened to what he was saying to taunt the rollerz, or any other conversation he tried to hold, to be honest.   
At the end of the task all the rollerz’s cars had blown up while racing and she also had to destroy more of them after that. It was perfectly understandable to groan the way she did when, as she was stepping out of the shower and getting ready to take a rest, she received a call from Lin asking her to go to the teahouse to meet up. Choosing a place that wasn’t either her appartment or one of their spots only meant she wanted more work done, but she couldn’t say no to her…so there she was, making her way to please her.   
Again, as soon a she stepped inside the Tea House the first person she noticed was Lin sitting on a stool. How could she always see her right away, even when she was among a huge crowd? She never knew, maybe they both had a sixth sense for each other. She stopped just steps away when she heard the bald stuttering man sitting next to the other asking if she needed a light. That made her roll her eyes, for some reason that obvious lame and pathetic attempt to hook up always bothered her.  
“Thanks” said Lin in an indifferent tone before lighting her cigarette…and throwing the borrowed item over her shoulder, making the poor idiot realize she wasn’t interested and forcing him to stand up, grab his lighter and try to leave.   
Playa hid her acid smirk right before making her way towards Lin… and bumping onto the man’s shoulder on purpose. Why? Because he fucking tried to make a move on her, did she really needed another reason?   
“Fucking asshole” whispered the man as he looked at her. Apparently the menacing stare she gave him was enough to make him flee, so she smirked again and sat in the now empty stool. 

“I’ll tell ya, you and me are always making new friends”, said the other in an amused laconic tone as she smoked calmly. “Things are moving too slow. We gotta step it up. “  
Oh hell, yep. Business Lin again. She tried to keep a straight indifferent face as Lin told her about her new plan to mess with the rollerz and gain their trust using some guy named Donnie. They had to fake all this movie looking scene where Lin would rescue him, all this without messing up her car, and she was very specific about this. Even when they hung out Lin wouldn’t allow her to sit on the hood of her car because that could leave dents, so she had to be extra careful.  
Since they were supposed to act like they didn’t know each other, she took out her cellphone as long as she got out of there, but for her surprise she saw Lin had messaged her first.  
‘I saw what you did that, I hope you really didn’t think that guy had a shot. Jealous?’

“Asshole” whispered Playa while smiling so widely it almost hurt her face.

How things go after that? With the help of three other saints, she went through a surprisingly pleasant destruction spree in Donnie’s workshop. Despite everyone trying to protect the weak looking guy, they ended up falling severely injured or dead. One of her homies got shot so badly the others stayed there with him while she rushed out chasing the roller. She was doing that when all of sudden Lin parked her car right in front of them, shouting “DONNIE, GET DOWN!”  
They didn’t have time to rehearse this beforehand, so she could only hope Lin wouldn’t accidentally shot her. Luckily the girl knew what she was doing and aimed a little away from her feet. The not-so-silent saint had to restrain herself from laughing when she perfectly heard her friend letting out a worried “Ugh, I think you scratched my hood”.   
It was in that moment that playa got out of her hiding spot firing her arm…and messing up the car’s door.  
“Motherfucker….!” Whispered Lin angrily, and before playa could ruin everything and apologize she tried to shoot her and then drove away. Playa smirked before rushing to her car to follow them, she hope the other girl wouldn’t kill her because of what she did to her baby…but she doubted this would happen, since she clearly saw the rollerz infiltrate smile before she took off.

 

Hours later when it almost midnight, she finally showed up to Lin’s place. It didn’t surprise her to see her waiting at the doorstop with her arms folded and a dangerous expression on her face.  
“Uhm…sorry?” ventured shyly as she tried to make her best sad puppy eyes.  
“What was the most important thing I told you about our mission?”  
“Everything got so confusing and..”  
“…Don’t mess up my car..”  
“I didn’t see where I was shooting…”  
“And boom, I suddenly have three bullet holes on my door, and a dent from that asshole when he scooted over my hood. You’re s fucking lucky he’s gonna fix that for free”.  
“I was going to pay for it, you didn’t had to ask that bitch’s help”.   
Lin raised a brow. She didn’t look that upset before, but now she looked…curious?  
“I knew you were jealous”  
“I’m not. Can I come in? Someone might see us out here”.   
The street was silent, dark and deserted, but Lin shrugged and moved away to let her in. Playa threw herself onto the bed like she always did and chuckled.   
“But now changing topics… congratz for punching that asshole Joseph, by the way”.  
She was referring of course to Donnie’s friend. At some point the muscly hulk alike guy made fun of Lin’s tits due to a comment she made, but she didn’t even hesitate to punch him the same way she punched that other saint months ago, but at least the roller had the decency to admit he deserved it. After he left and made sure Lin was going to be safe with Mr. Sharp and Donnie, playa rushed to protect a convoy Donnie accidentally mentioned. Again, the mission was a success but for some reason she felt more pain than ever before, were her muscles that sore?  
“Are you bleeding on my pillow?  
“What?”  
“Oh shit, yes you are” Lin sat at the edge of the bed and touched her shoulder, and it wasn’t until that moment that she felt a stinging sensation that made her clench her jaw and growl.  
“Fuck…when did that even happen?”  
“You got shot and you didn’t even feel it, seriously?” The Asian saint folded her arms while staring at her in disbelief.  
“It’s just a scratch, and I was already so sore I thought it was just my muscles”. Said playa while shrugging.   
“Well, you’re not gonna die but we must take care of that. C’ommon, take off your clothes and get in the shower, I’ll go to the drugstore… and don’t look at me like that! You’re all sweaty and dirty and you have to clean the wound anyway. You gonna stay here tonight and there’s no way I’m letting you sleep in my bed if you’re smelling like a wet dog”.  
“Wow, now that was harsh” said Julius’ favorite as she pretended to be hurt. Luckily for Lin she learnt to see when she was bulsshitting her, so she rolled her eyes and hit her with a pillow. “Hey!!! I’m severely wounded, you should be gentler!”  
“Gentler my ass. Shower, now. I’ll be right back”. And she simply stood up, grabbed her purse and walked out of the tiny crammed apartment.  
Playa sighed and laid down for a couple minutes more while staring at the ceiling. So sleeping on her bed, huh? She looked around the place again, realizing the single sofa was too small and uncomfortable to sleep on it. What about the floor? She sat up and looked down. No, there wasn’t room to lay down on the floor either. Being more comfortable and talking around Lin didn’t mean she was ready to sleep in the same bed, and she was sure she would be unable to sleep, so…. she’d just let her patch her up and then go back to her own place. Yeah, it was for the best. 

When she heard Lin come back minutes later she was still in the shower. Cleaning the wound hurt like a bitch, but she tried to stay quiet as the warm water fell on it.  
“Hey, are you almost done there?”  
“Yeah but I couldn’t find a towel”  
She could hear the sound of a drawer getting opened and closed and then Lin opening the bathroom door. Playa instinctively covered her body with her arms because the shower curtain was… well, kind of transparent for her taste, but the other just looked at her indifferently and threw towel at her.  
She couldn’t look at her in the eye after she came out and it didn’t help that she could feel herself blushing like a stupid teen girl while wearing some of her clothes, cause hers were too messy and apparently bloody, but she thanked that Lin was too busy with what she was doing that she didn’t seem to notice.  
“Mkay, done. Might wanna tell Julius to give you a break so you can heal properly. I could tell him tomorrow…”  
“Nah, I’m okay, told ya it was just a scratch. Tomorrow I’ll be as good as new”.   
“You’re starting to love this, don’t you?”  
“Who? I mean… yeah well, it’s not bad. All the adrenaline and well…”  
They stayed in complete silence for a couple of minutes. When she was starting to feel nervous and having the need to say anything to stop feeling anxious, Lin stretched her long strong arms and yawned.   
“Okay, time to sleep. For me, at least, you can watch the tv if you aren’t tired”.   
“The bed is so tiny…”  
“Scared to sleep with me?” Lin smirked at her blushing friend. “It’s okay sweetie, I not gonna bite. Seriously though, if it makes you uncomfortable then….get fucking used to it. Nite”.   
“Asshole”.  
She did turn the tv on, but she never knew at what point she fell asleep. However, she slowly woke up when it was still dark, only to see Lin’s face right in front of hers, staring.  
“God Lin, you fucking scared me”.   
“Is it true?”  
“What?”  
“Is it your birthday?”  
“Huh?”  
“You were talking while you were asleep, and to make it short you practically said it was your birthday”.   
“Oh, shit”.   
She started to feel slightly embarrassed, so she turned her back on her, but even then she could feel her slim body pressed against her back. Dammit, why was the bed so small?   
“Why didn’t you tell me?”  
“Cause it doesn’t matter. I’ve never celebrated my birthday or any other holiday”.   
“Look at me”.   
“Oh c’mon…”  
“Don’t make me say your name”.   
She sighed and turned to face her again. Why? Why were her eyes so fucking beautiful and bright? Why did she have to look so beautiful?  
“I didn’t have time to get you something…”  
“I told you it doesn’t matter…”  
“Hey, shuddup! I’m trying to talk here!” she whispered irritated. She took a deep breath and then sighed longly, and playa could tell there was something odd going on. They knew each other so well that she knew there was something going through her mind, and at the same time Lin knew she was about to ask her what was wrong, so she put a long slender finger on her lips.  
“Just shuddup and don’t ask. Close your eyes”.   
“Lin, are you gonna murder me while I have my guard down? I told you I was sorry about the car”.   
“Could you stop fucking joking and close your eyes?”  
“Gee, I’m sorry. Okay…”  
She was trying to joke because she was nervous and she could feel and almost hear her own heart beating like a drum. Or a thousand drums. She waited nervously for a couple of seconds, unable to open them because she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out why she asked her to close them in the first place.  
All of sudden she could feel a soft breathing close to her lips, and Lin’s delicious perfume filling her nostrils.   
“Happy birthday…”   
Right after that she felt something that made her wonder if she ever woke up or if she was still dreaming. Lin’s soft lips were onto hers, kissing her with a tenderness that seemed almost impossible coming from someone like her. She had to open her eyes just slightly to make sure it was actually happening, but it was real and she was there, closed eyes with a visible nervous expression. It had finally happened; something that she had been craving but she had no idea about, so now there was no turning back and no reason to be shy. She grabbed the other’s hips to pull her closer and press their bodies together, and judging by Lin’s sudden pleased sound, she did something good for once.   
If someone ever had the chance to see their relationship since they met, they would have known how desperately they needed each other, but apparently they were too blind to see that. Luckily for both of their dense little minds, they finally used something as innocent as a birthday present to do what they have been wanting to do for a long time.   
When the sun came out, they still couldn’t pull away from each other. Everything was perfect, everything was beautiful. Playa finally felt like she was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this, again, thank you very much! Writing in another language is a motivating challenge for me, I appreciate your patience.


	4. -Her name was Lin- IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I…I think I found my lighter. Did you hear that asshole Donnie?” The other let out a laugh, but even with that she was unable to hide her pain. Where did that guy shot her? “He said I was his girl”  
> “I’m going to take you out of here, Lin”

Everything seemed to be getting better now. Los Carnales and the Vice Kings were permanently gone, she had been taking driving lessons from Lin to be as badass as her, Johnny was becoming some sort of a sociopathic yet caring big brother and the saints treated her like a true leader, only below Julius. However all that seemed insignificant if she compared it to what she was living with Lin in that moment. Of course they had to keep it a secret not only from the Rollerz, but from the Saints as well. They had talked about it and they decided to stop hiding it once the last rival gang was over, for they couldn’t risk the possibility of Donnie finding out somehow.

Both her and Lin where so careful that they only saw each other at Lin’s place now, and they rarely were seen together in the headquarters. That meant she was spending more time with Johnny… and saving his ass.  
“Look Johnny, is not that I don’t appreciate your effort...”  
“I know Eesh, you’re welcome. I do what I can”.   
“Johnny, you’re not doing shit! She’s the one doing everything!” Aisha finally snapped while pointing at a confused playa while she was cooking in the small ugly improvised kitchen in the HQs.   
“Yo, at least it’s not Freckle Bitches! And she cooks like a pro. Nothing I do is enough!”  
“It ain’t her duty to do everything for you! She saved my sister, she fucking got me out of King’s control and now she’s cooking the romantic dinner you promised me!”  
“I’m no fucking chef!”  
Playa had to roll her eyes with a slight smile as she kept doing her thing. She didn’t get uncomfortable with their fights anymore because she knew it was their cute twisted and hilarious way to show how much they loved each other, so she was okay with it. They were still arguing and yelling at each other from one end of the table to the other when she cleared her throat, put the dinner in the middle, made an exaggerated bow and left to give the lovey doveys some time alone. She was now relaxing in the almost empty church when she heard some footsteps.  
“Sup playa, Lin’s been saying you’ve been doing a helluva job when it comes to the rollerz. Keep it up.”_It was Julius. She was about to give him an indifferent shrug when her phone rang. “That’s Lin?”  
She simply nodded, trying her best to avoid smiling like an idiot. She didn’t feel comfortable enough to talk on the phone in front of Julius, but Luckily the other girl new this already, so she didn’t care if playa never spoke at all while she did all the talking.  
“Hey meet me at the pool hall, the rollerz are getting into something big.” And then she hung up. She looked at her phone and then back at Julius, who simply made a paternal gesture with his hand.  
“Don’t let me hold ya up. You know how the lady hates to be kept waiting”.   
And still with a stoic expression on her face, playa rushed away, not before making sure to grab her piece and enough ammo and recruit two other homies to go with her. Her heart was racing dangerously inside her chest and she had to make a huge effort to stay focused and avoid crashing the car as she drove to the pool hall as fast as she could. There was a reason why she was so fucking nervous, stressed and scared; she only had to hear Lin’s voice from the other side of the line to know something was wrong.

 

In later years, she discovered her instinct would be a great ally to save not only her ow ass but her homies’. How did she end tied up inside the trunk of a car with a massive headache? Well, it turned out she was right and there was something wrong. The rollerz somehow found out Lin was with the saints and she had been tied up while unconscious. Playa should have been more careful, but the only thing she wanted as soon as she saw the other saint was to untie her and take her to a safe place. She was on it when she felt something hitting the back of her head, and then everything turned black.   
She didn’t know how much time she stayed unconscious, but she slowly started to open her eyes when she heard Lin’s voice.  
“Hey, I think we stopped moving. Are you listening? Are you even alive? Say something!”  
She was so dizzy and hurt that words couldn’t get out of her mouth, so the best she could do was to move her leg…and kick Lin harder than she wanted to.  
“Ow! I’ll take that as a yes. Where the fuck’s my lighter…”  
“I…my head…” managed to whisper. She was in so much pain she was gritting her teeth.  
“Stay calm, we’re gonna get outta this”.  
“Where the hell are we?”  
“In the trunk of fucking Sharp’s car. It was a trap. Fuck, I fucking led you into a trap, Sharp figured I was rolling with the saints somehow and he made me call you. I should have refused but I knew…”  
“You knew I’d know something was wrong. It’s okay, I knew it was a trap but I fucked up… I should have called more saints to help, this is my fault…”  
Lin was still struggling and grunting, apparently trying to find her lighter, but this time she was the one who kicked her softly.  
“Don’t you fucking dare to say this is your fault. Remember when I told you you’d be safe with me? I’ll keep that promise, you’re gonna walk out of this safely.”  
“Lin…”  
She interrupted herself when someone finally opened the trunk. It was nice to see that her initial blindness was due to the lack of light inside the reduced space and not because she became blind after the vicious attack, but they were still in danger. There they were, Mr. Sharp and Donnie, the last one looing shocked and as lame as always.  
“Donnie listen to me, I swear to god…” started to say Lin in an attempt to convince him to set them free, but Mr. Sharp raised his gun… and shot her. Playa was about to jump out to fucking murder him when she was shot as well, and everything went black once again. She could barely hear the enemies’ voices, and in her fragile yet still hopefully state she was expecting Donnie to defend Lin, but that didn’t happen. It sounded like the freaking idiot just drove away.  
Why was she so sleepy and dizzy at the same time? Was this how things were going to end, after all she had managed?   
“Hey…stay… stay calm. We’re gonna get outta this”. She heard Lin’s voice after a gasp. It was in that moment when she seemed to remember she had been shot too, and she felt the urge to do something to get them out of there. She tried to move but her body felt so heavy and everything hurt so much that it was getting harder than she thought.  
“Lin…”  
“I…I think I found my lighter. Did you hear that asshole Donnie?” The other let out a laugh, but even with that she was unable to hide her pain. Where did that guy shot her? “He said I was his girl”  
“I’m going to take you out of here, Lin”  
“Don’t move….okay? I’ll use the lighter to get rid of the ropes, I don’t wanna burn you”.  
Even after several years had passed, she always admired how the Asian saint managed to untie her using her lighter and without hurting her at all. Lin definitely was talented and skillful, secret agent material and a true badass who sadly was assigned to do something as disgusting as pretending to be part of the enemy gang. She had so much potential that even Gat recognized he would have had a hard time taking her down.   
Playa could smell the burnt ropes and soon they got loose around her wrists, so getting rid of them after that was easy.  
“Thanks sweetie”.   
“Take…the lighter…”  
“You don’t sound that good Lin. I’ll rush you to the hospital as soon as we get out of here. Lin? Talk to me”  
She wasn’t ready to see the next scene, something that would give her nightmares for the next few years. Since she wasn’t responding and she couldn’t feel her moving that much, playa used the lighter to illuminate the trunk. It took her a few seconds to realize it was soaked in a dark dense liquid, but it wasn’t her blood. Sharp had shot her in the arm but she wasn’t bleeding that much, it was Lin’s blood. Unable to speak due to the shock, she only could try to find the wound, and after a few seconds of examining her she realized the bullet hit the space between her neck and shoulder. She felt…so cold. Blood was still pouring out, so she desperately took off her shirt to press it against her wound, and that action made the other finally open her eyes.  
“Hi there”, said with a weak painful smile that made things ten thousand times worse.  
“It’s okay. You’re okay, we gonna get you to the hospital, we just have to get out of this fucking trunk”  
“Hun…”  
“It’s just a simple scratch, we gonna get you fixed to hunt down that asshole. And Mr. Sharp too”. She was speaking with fake confidence because she wanted to believe that herself. She didn’t notice when tears started to stream down her face, but Lin lifted a hand to wipe them off.  
“You gonna live. You said you were stronger than me, and you are, I have so much faith in you…”  
“Stop talking like this Lin, please”.  
“You could be the fucking queen of the world if you wanted to. Just promise me you will keep getting stronger and if you die, your death won’t me as lame as mine”.  
“Shut up!”  
“I know this is cliché, but I love you so fucking much…”  
Playa finally was unable to restrain her desperate cries as she held her closely. At the same time she was kicking the top of the trunk to open it, but they both knew it was too late, Lin was losing so much blood that she would die before they could take her to a hospital, and accepting that had been one of the hardest moments in her life.  
“I love you too”.   
“Now keep trying to open the trunk…c’ommon. Don’t stop”.   
She kept kicking even when her legs were hurting so much already, but she had to stop a few minutes later, when she felt Lin was suspiciously calm. She had no idea how much time she spent holding her in her arms, lifeless, the ghost of a smile in her beautiful face, her crying self trying to accept what just happened. Even when the water started to fill the trunk she stayed in the same position, knowing she would never have her in her arms again. Now that the trunk was filled with water it was easier to kick it open, but she didn’t know the river where they were in decided to be wild and merciless that night. She was struggling to swim and hold Lin at the same time, so she only was able to hold her for a few seconds and look at her beautiful peaceful face before she let her go to be able to swim out.  
She felt empty. Broken. She was a broken vessel that released something so terrifying that even his leader tried to get rid of her for the greater good and everyone’s safety. That night inside that trunk, a monster was born.

…

She did what she had to do. She didn’t know where she found the strength to drag her soaking wet hurt body out of the water, kill a roller to steal their gun and chase Mr. Sharp around Stillport while in a murdering spree not even comparable to Gat’s. What she did to Mr.Sharp before mercifully killing him was something she never shared with anyone, because part of her wanted to hide that dark side of her from people like Julius, Gat, Troy and Dex. Those kind of things could only be seen in extremely gore movies, but she never felt remorse for it, sometimes when she thought about it she even smiled.  
Everyone would try to comfort her about her loss, but she couldn’t care less, the only thing she felt was anger and utter satisfaction because she knew she managed to make suffer and murder the one who took her from her.  
A big part of her died that night with her loved one, and her death was so significant that it unleashed a reckless scary sociopathic behavior that would become her trademark in the later years, a passion for blood, cold hearted murder and revenge.  
She was brutally taken away from her when she less expected it. She was a true saint, a badass and the best car racer in Chinatown. She was her best friend, her lover, her first true love. She was the last thing she thought about as her body hit the water when the boat she was in was blown up. She was her everything, and her name was Lin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank for reading! This was hard to write because Lin was one helluva character, but at the end it was pretty satisfying, something bittersweet.
> 
> This is the last chapter of Boss/Lin story, and with it it comes a new one.


	5. - The friendly hippie girl who hated pants- I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skinny shorter girl lifted her head when she saw her arrive and smiled slowly.  
> “Hey, I’m Shaundi”.

If you ever dared to whine and say you had a bad day, playa would have rolled her eyes and punch you in the face without hesitation. How would a normal person dare to say the had a shitty day, when she not only woke up from a coma after 5 years, but she also found out her gang’s crew was either incarcerated by someone who she used to trust or killed by new gangs? All the effort she made to try to clean the city and Lin’s sacrifice had been in vain. And Julius… Julius had betrayed her. She cursed the moment she sneaked into the police station to try to get more information about the person she considered her father figure, only to realized he was the one who tried to kill her. Dex selling himself to Ultor was just another minor disappointment, but she was wise enough to keep his number, she was going to call him and face Julius once she got rid of the rival gangs in Stillwater… again.  
How did she end up having an inexperienced young carefree hippie pothead as one of her lieutenants? She still asked herself that, while staring at Shaundi smoking from a broken lightbulb.  
It all happened so fast, like everything in her life since she joined the Saints. One second she was cornered in a boat about to get shot, then seconds later she was waking up in a medical ward to see a nurse and two officers talking about her and how dangerous she was. She took the risk and trusted the boy in the orange jumpsuit lying next to her to escape prison. She did have shitty ideas when she was younger… five years ago, so why not try it?  
Once they reached shore and while she was still trying to process what happened with Stillwater, Carlos suggested she could try getting as much information about the rival gangs as she could. He started to leave but apparently something inside him made him return, maybe he realized playa was still shocked.  
“Hey, I know it’s not much but you can come to my place and crash there until you can stand on your feet”.  
“Nah, thanks Carlos, I have a place. We’ll keep in touch, a’ight?”  
“Sure”.   
She had to make an effort to look calm while she was still panicking, but she would try to think what to do later. She managed to destroy a newspaper stand when no one was watching and get enough change to get some clothes in the nearest Sloppy seconds, it wasn’t wise to keep walking around in that bright orange prison jumpsuit.  
Everything in Stillwater was so changed she struggled to find her way to the right place, but after a couple of hours of wandering and asking around, she found herself in front of a familiar old building. She approached it and looked for the spare key, hoping it was still hidden in the hole of the tree… and there it was. Having that small metal object again in her hand gave her some odd painful sensations and memories, but she tried to push them away while she introduced the key into the lock, but it was open already.  
She wasn’t ready to see what it was behind the door of the tiny apartment. A dusty old cluttered dark room filled with garbage and cowebs. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized Lin have been living in the building’s basement and somehow she managed to make it cozy, but now that it didn’t have the tiny kitchen and most of the furniture, she could see she had been living in a horrible place for a girl like her. Most of her stuff was either taken by relatives or stolen during the five years playa hadn’t been around, but it still had the small table, the old small and now broken couch, some of the car posters on the walls were still there, an earring, the mattress and a pillow… They had been lying down in that same mattress hours before she was murdered, and the idea of it was still unbearable for her. For Playa, these five years didn’t mean anything at all; she still felt her death like it was yesterday.  
“Hey Lin, I’m home” whispered as she reached for the pillow and hit it to take the dust off. She didn’t even bother to clean the mattress at all, and threw herself onto it, falling asleep almost instantly. That night some dreams involving certain Asian saint tormented her until she woke up the next morning.

 

Trying to do every dirty dangerous job to get enough money to turn Lin’s place in something more habitable again had been a challenge, considering her limbs hadn’t been used in a long time and clean honest jobs were out of the question. By the time she rushed to rescue her best friend Johnny Gat, she was already in such a great shape she didn’t struggle at all. Seeing his and Aisha’s familiar faces was a huge relief, and she was so happy with it that she didn’t even try to stay quiet anymore. She was still experiencing an unknown level of anger but still…. Feeling like she still had someone who she could call a friend was keeping her somewhat sane.  
She didn’t realize the moment she started to turn into a female version a Johnny Gat, but she should have suspected it when she accepted his idea of reviving the saints. To achieve that they ended up going to an old abandoned underground hotel, which turned into theirs when they killed a bunch of sons of samedi and homeless people.  
Now that they had new headquarters, the only thing they needed was…  
“We can’t really run a gang if we don’t have, YOU KNOW, a fucking gang!” said Johnny all annoyed after dragging out corpses and mopping blood. Yep, that was Gat being Gat.  
“You said it yourself. Most of the older crew are either dead or busted by Troy, we gonna have to start fresh”.  
“Yeah well, let’s get on that, cause I’m done mopping up blood!”  
“This kid Carlos helped bust out”, remembered playa as she started to walk upstairs with Johnny following her. He was young, yes, but at least had the balls to make an epic escape from prison “He seems alright but we gonna need more. Watchu thinkin’?”  
“Yo, I met some people in jail who might work, let me make some calls. Once I find out where these bitches are, you’re gonna have to show thme that you’re the real deal though… they won’t just follow anybody”.  
In that moment she didn’t notice yet that her partner in crime was handling her the leader role, but she had so much in her head that she didn’t notice. When he asked her what sort of crew she was looking for, she had a clear idea of what she wanted. Loyalty, intelligence and connections.  
Carlos proved he was loyal, so he was the first one she reached.  
This guy Pierce seemed kind of smart and all she had to do to impress him was to kill a group or ronin, easy cake.  
The last one was this woman named Shaundi, according to Gat she had tons of connections and a reliable net of information around the city, exactly what she needed. As she made her way to the suburbs, she wondered what kind of woman she was. If she had all this connections she should be some badass intimidating girl like Lin, right?   
The mental image she had of her soon crumbled down when she parked her bike right outside the address she was supposed to find. Outside the small one story house there was a group of frat girls and another one who looked nothing like them. Hippie would be a good word to describe her. Tiny top, bell bottom pants, a bandana in her heard and dreadlocks… already wearing purple, apparently. Yep, that wasn’t what she was expecting to see at all, but maybe she was just a friend or a roommate?  
The skinny shorter girl lifted her head when she saw her arrive and smiled slowly.  
“Hey, I’m Shaundi”.   
Great, so it was her. Playa felt the impulse to ask her if she was sure she was Shaundi, because at first glance she could tell she was high as fuck, but before she could speak the other pointed at a muscle car parked right in front of her.  
“What do you say you show me what you can do in that thing?”  
“Are you fucking serious?”  
“Yeah, why not? It’s gonna be good times, hop in”  
Shaundi still had that wide relaxed smile on her face when she threw the keys at her.  
“You should be more careful, you know? What if I’m not the person you’re looking for?”  
“You’re the one who rolled with the saints and fell into a coma, I know it’s you”  
That certainty made Playa frown and it also irritated her just a bit, but she still got inside the car with Shaundi following her.  
“So what the hell you want me to do? Drift, hit cars? Run over people?”  
“I know some cool places where you can do stunt jumps for me”  
“Is that everything it takes to have you in my gang? You’re kind of easy, you know”.   
“Hey there’s nothing wrong in wanting to have some fun. Now, entertain me” laughed the girl, leaning her legs over the board of the car and giving her directions indifferently.  
Playa was starting to question if this girl really worth this ridiculous effort, but even if she was so silly, she needed the contacts…and she didn’t want to admit she missed having another female around.  
She did the stunt jumps with no effort, and Shaundi applauded her like it was the most fun thing ever.  
“Good times, good times. Whenever you’re getting everyone together let me know”.   
“I’m going to do that right now, want a ride?”  
“Since you’re riding my car, why not? Let’s go”. Shaundi winked at her, but she finally looked away when her new boss just grunted and looked away to start driving to the mission.

 

And there she was, inside her new shitty headquarters now as the leader of the saints and giving a similar speech Julius gave to the crew years ago.   
Even if she kind of scolded Shaundi for being a smartass and questioning her in front of everyone why she got to take care of the Sons of Samedi, the new leader of the saints couldn’t stop thinking about her, and it annoyed her. She was way younger and too naive and silly for her own good, so why? Was it because of her soothing voice or her piercing feline eyes?  
“Hey Lin… I met someone today. But you know she’s nothing like you, right? It’s a stupid crush at first sight thing. Maybe I’ve just been too fucking lonely for so long”.   
She whispered that against the pillow while curled in the now clean mattress she once shared with the other girl. And she kept talking to her all night, like if that would make her feel less guilty.


	6. - The friendly hippie girl who hated pants- II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, I got you a present”.   
> She couldn’t restrain a smirk when she saw Shaundi, she was sure she just passed out there because there was no other explanation on why she was there at 7 am.  
> “A lightbulb, just what I always wanted”

Playa, once Julius’ favorite one and now leader of the Saints had a silly crush on a silly hippie girl, and she didn’t like that. In the next days after recruiting saints and starting to work to destroy the other gangs, she tried to ignore Shaundi the best she could. This ended up being impossible, because she demonstrated to be a somewhat good lieutenant and she spent a good amount of time in the headquarters, either putting her boys to work or playing hacky sack with everyone to relieve some tension.  
So far the boss had met Maero and made sure to steal the Ronin’s casino. At first Pierce got her attention with his plan to rob the Asian gang, but when he mentioned getting the help of “the blackjack dealer Shaundi was fucking” she dismissed it for some reason she couldn’t understand. She tried to convince herself that Johnny’s plan was faster and it would show the enemy gang who they were messing with, and even when his plan worked miraculously…she wasn’t quite sure about how to feel.   
That day in particular was Saturday. The headquarters were always open but the place was empty, because who the hell shows up early in the morning after partying on a Friday night? She knew her crew too well.  
She still had to plan what to do with Maero after he insulted them by offering them such a shitty deal and then calling them washed up bangers. She was thinking about it and checking out her gun when she heard some footsteps approaching her.  
“Hey, I got you a present”.   
She couldn’t restrain a smirk when she saw Shaundi, she was sure she just passed out there because there was no other explanation on why she was there at 7 am.  
“A lightbulb, just what I always wanted”, said Playa with the most sarcastic voice she could find. Yes, she wasn’t planning to be that friendly with her, but Shaundi didn’t look offended at all. She never did.  
“C’ommon, you think I’d just give you a lightbulb?” asked calmly, smashing the object on the stone railing.   
“A face shredder, just what I always wanted”.   
“Smoke this”.   
She felt the impulse to laugh when her lieutenant poured something inside the broken lightbulb and started to light it, who would use something like that?   
“Ever heard of a pipe?”  
“Pipes cost money, money that can be used for drugs or shoes”.   
Ohhh yes, shoes. She wasn’t going to agree with her out loud, so she simply leaned closer when Shaundi put the lightbulb right in front of her face.  
“What is it?”  
“It’s the Sons of Samedi’s number one product, they call it Loa dust”.   
“But you smoke it…”  
“They suck at marketing, what can I say? The point is that this shit is all over campus. I mean frats are buying it by the pound. If we get enough of this stuff we might find out how to make it ourselves”.   
“…and then we sell it for cheaper and steal their market”.  
“Exactly”  
“How much stuff are we talkin’?”  
“I dunno, 3 pounds? 2 for science 1 for the weekend?”  
“I can live with that” said the boss, leaning her arms back on the steps and nodding. She was pleased with Shaundi’s idea, maybe she wasn’t as stupid as she thought…  
“What you thinkin’?”  
“Boss’ stuff”.   
“And let me guess, you can’t share, right?”  
The boss just turned her head to look at her and smirk in an intimidating way that said she was done talking, but the girl with the dreadlocks didn’t look away. The calmness she emanated was just extraordinary, and playa found herself pursing her lips.  
“Boss, you need to relax. Want more Loa dust?”  
“Nah, I’m good” she wasn’t going to allow herself to feel too comfortable around Shaundi, so she stood up and started to walk upstairs.   
“Where are you going?”  
“Gonna talk to Legal Lee, Luz and head to the friendly fire, need more ammo if I gonna take care of this loa dust thing”  
“Are you sure you don’t need someone else there with you?”  
“Hey, I survived a fucking explosion, today I’ll just take care of some dealers, nothing to worry about”.   
And she had to rush out right after that, because she discovered way too late that she dedicated Shaundi the same proud cocky smirk she once used with Lin.

 

She was driving on her way to the campus when she heard her cellphone ringing. She picked it up and answered without seeing who called, and got just slightly surprised when she heard Shaundi’s voice in the other line.  
“Listen, when you get to SU be careful when you’re taking care of the Sons of Samedi”.  
“A gang with a French sounding name, that’s scary”, replied the boss with her amused sarcastic tone, she just couldn’t help it.  
“They’re not just gangbangers, these guys are outta their damn mind”, insisted her lieutenant. “For God’s sake, they’re named after the vodoun lord of the dead”.  
“You never struck me as bein’ the superstitious type”.   
“Just be careful, okay?”  
Damn her. It was the way she said that last thing that melted her…maybe just a little bit. She sounded so worried, and she didn’t had to call her to tell her to be careful, yet she did.   
“Don’t worry Shaundi, I don’t like getting killed. I’ll be careful”, said before hanging up, this time trying to sound more reassuring. She kept calling the other girl during her fun little mission just to let her know she was alive.  
By the time she finally got all the packages of Loa dust and went to the headquarters, she saw a small group of saints already there, but the first one to greet her as soon as she walked through the door was Shaundi, her characteristic relaxed smile on her face.  
“Had fun?”  
“You have no idea, told ya the Sons of Samedi wouldn’t be an issue” replied with a shrugged as she tossed the packages to the nearest table. “You can start our science project now”.   
“Right away”.   
Shaundi took the packages and she was about to walk away when she turned back at the boss again. She stared at her in what it felt like an eternity, but she finally approached and rested a hand on her shoulder.  
“I’m glad you’re okay”  
The sensation of her hand on her skin made her feel something like an electric shock. Or like fire….or ice. And she didn’t like it…or did she?   
“You offend me, you make it sound like you really thought they could take me down. Gonna get some rest, laterz”.   
And she moved her shoulder away from her hand to leave. By rest, she meant she’d end up looking for a girl or two to fuck before heading ‘home’ and curling in her bed while hugging Lin’s pillow.

 

She wasn’t done with Donnie. She had to control herself when she saw that pathetic excuse of a human working for Maero, that idiot seemed to cling to whichever gang was in power at the moment apparently. He was too naive, so she assumed he’d find him were Lin died in the day of her death’s anniversary, and she was right. She felt her blood boiling inside her veins when she heard him say she missed Lin, so she couldn’t help but reply with a “That’s sweet Donnie, I missed you too”, while aiming at his head.  
“Oh, shit…”  
“You haven’t seen me since your boss shot and stuffed me in a trunk of a car and the best you can give me is ‘Oh shit’? “  
“You…you’re supposed to be dead”.  
“That will work, now walk to the car”.  
She wanted to shoot him. Yes, shoot him, stuff him in the trunk of his car and push him into the river so he could feel exactly what Lin felt. She wouldn’t do it though, she’d force him to mess up his own crew’s cars, that way she’d get revenge on the Brotherhood and make him suffer.   
“Look, I know you’re pissed about Lin, I am too, but I had nothing to do with killing her…”  
All her autocontrol went to hell when she heard that. She hit the brakes so hard that Donnie hit his face with the board, and she also grabbed the back of his neck to slam him against it again. He looked at her terrified, holding his face as she pointed the gun right at his nose.  
“Don’t you fucking dare, Donnie. You had nothing to do with it, you say. Lin asked for your help and you fucking walked away from her and let Sharp drown her. I would have understood if you let die, but Lin? She could have been saved if you had got her outta there”  
“But it’s been years since I was in the rollerz, can’t you let it go?” asked Donnie again, trying to sound more confident but failing miserably. “I never did anything to you, all I ever did was fix cars”.  
Playa laughed coldly. Almost maniacally. This was just hilarious, was he serious?  
“You messed with me the moment you let Lin die. Didn’t you call her your girl? Didn’t you fucking love her? If that’s true why didn’t you got the balls to save her from Sharp when you had the chance?”  
Donnie stayed quiet, and she took that chance to calm down and drive them to the first truck. He still kept asking her why she was doing this and warning her Maero would kill her, but she didn’t care.  
“Remember, /maybe/ Lin loved you back. And the last thing she saw was you walking away from her after she asked for your help. Good luck, Donnie” she spew after dropping him right in front of the Brotherhood headquarters and driving away. She knew Lin never loved him and she even mocked him in her final moments when he called her ‘her girl’, but she wanted to torture him. Give him the same kind of nightmares she frequently had.  
“Boss, are you o-“ started to say Shaundi when she saw her arriving, but Playa just walked straight to her and leant her head on her shoulder. No words, no embrace, she just leaned her head there, and it was Shaundi the one wrapped her arms around her. Even if she felt like her contact was burning her, she just couldn’t move away. If she only knew sometimes her hippie stoner lieutenant could sense her pain…

 

Decisions were made. She decided to teach Maero not to fuck with her and his bitch of a girlfriend decided to get some disproportionate payback. Murdering someone in such a painful horrific way because she gave his man some little acid burns in his face for being disrespectful? Carlos didn’t deserve this. He was young and he had so much potential, and now he was dead. They held a funeral once they claimed his body, and now that they were honoring his memory with a party in the headquarters all she could think about was him, his mutilated face against the pavement and the way he held her hand before asking her to kill him out of mercy. That person could have been her…  
Her thoughts were interrupted when someone opened the door of her private room.  
“Hey Boss”. Of course, it had to be Shaundi. “How you feelin’?”  
“Do you really have to ask?”  
Her lieutenant closed the door behind her and sat on the edge of the bed without being invited, but playa was so tired she didn’t even care. Shaundi tried to offer her some Loa dust from her broken lightbulb but she rejected it, pushing her hand away.  
“Wanna talk about it?”  
“Talk about what? The kid’s dead, he knew what he was getting into”. Playa crossed her arms without noticing it and looked away. “What it bothers me is that now I have one less lieutenant, nothing else”  
“Fine, if you say so. I’m just sayin’ I saw your face during the funeral…”  
“Shaundi, you’re missing the fucking party”.   
“This is your way to tell me to leave, right?”  
“I wanna watch Bobby and Amber. Close the door when you leave”.  
“Mkay. You know where to find me if you need me”.   
And she left. And when she did, the boss grabbed the bottle she had next to her and smashed it against the wall. She promised to make a banger out of Carlos and she sent him to his death instead. She should have known better, the kid was inexperienced and young, now she felt like she carried another death over her shoulders.  
However, she got her revenge. Thanks to Shaundi, she kidnapped Jessica, Maero’s girlfriend, and made him kill her. She also ended with his life when he outsmarted him. He thought his size, muscles and cheating with giant trucks were enough to kill the leader of the Saints, but he wasn’t counting with her being a bloodthirsty killer, who wouldn’t stop until every gang was destroyed.   
It was there, in front of Maero’s body, that she promised herself she wouldn’t lose anyone else. And Shaundi… she knew she’d end up seeing the beast inside her and she’d stop trying to befriend her, but even then, she’d try to keep her safe. She would do anything she could to prevent her becoming her next Carlos… or her next Lin.


	7. - The friendly hippie girl who hated pants- III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Back off, back the fuck off!”  
> “You think you’re walkin’outta here?”. The leader of the Saints couldn’t believe this skinny weak little man whose voice cracked in fear was serious.  
> “Unless you wanna bullet in this bitch, you’re goddamn right I am”
> 
>  
> 
> “If you wanna see Shaundi again you better come to Cocks”.

It didn’t matter how hard Playa tried to stay away from the girl with dreadlocks, she always found a way to spend time with her. She should have suspected Shaundi wouldn’t give up when she tricked her to go to the Arcade before killing Maero. Now she found her spending more time in the headquarters, approaching her with new ideas to get rid of the Sons of Samedi (That included sending her to prison with an activated bomb to bust Laura out) or just trying to tag along even after she directly called her an idiot for not mentioning important information about the rival gangs.   
Her insistence and Pierce’s constant whining became unbearable after Aisha was murdered by Jyunichi and Johnny was severely wounded. They couldn’t throw a commemorative party like they did with Carlos because she supposedly have died years ago, so she had to mourn her privately and pretend like her death and Gat’s delicate state didn’t affect her at all. Now that she was a leader she couldn’t let her enemies or her crew think she was weak.  
Even though she was trying to stay busy in the headquarters as much as she could, Playa still had her little escapades to Lin’s apartment. The place was now beautiful and looked more like it used to be in the past and not like the smelly dusty little room she found when she got out of prison. She still had her imaginary chats with Lin, thinking she would have told her Johnny would be fine and hugging her and comforting her about Aisha and Carlos.  
That day in particular she wanted to plan a move against the ronin and she wasn’t in the mood to hear the crew’s usual loud music and their drunk and stoned conversations, so she gave them all the day off.   
“Some peace and quiet, finally”, said to herself as she walked downstairs. Her mind was still fully focused on the ronin, but despite that it took her less than a second to react at the scene she found next: A guy with the Sons of Samedi’s colors holding a barely conscious Shaundi. Playa felt a mix of anger and adrenaline she only have experienced a few times, and she managed to take cover behind the stone railing when the guy shot at her.  
“Back off, back the fuck off!”  
“You think you’re walkin’outta here?”. The leader of the Saints couldn’t believe this skinny weak little man whose voice cracked in fear was serious.  
“Unless you wanna bullet in this bitch, you’re goddamn right I am”  
“Kid, you just made a st-“  
She tried to turn and aim her gun at him, but before she could get a clear shot he pulled the trigger. Luckily for her he was so scared he missed, but that didn’t stop him from trying to sound brave.  
“You know who the fuck I am?!”  
“Seein’ as I gonna kill you in a few seconds I don’t really give a shit”  
“Keep your distance!”  
Oh, fuck no. She knew who he was, but he was delusional if he really thought he was going to flee with her girl. Maybe he could feel the fire burning in her eyes, because he got so scared that the only way he found to escape was cheating. Playa was wondering why he shot at the ceiling when she finally heard the sound of the brazier falling. She had to jump out of the way and get rid of the flames when one of the carpets caught on fire, so by the time she rushed out of the headquarters he was long gone. She whistled loudly to call some of the guys, but she cursed herself when she remembered she gave all the day off.  
“Godammit… Okay… calm down. Call Johnny….SHIT!”. No, not Johnny, he was still in the hospital. Pierce. He was about to call him when the phone rang and she answered right away without seeing who it was, but soon she recognized the voice as the one she heard minutes ago.  
“If you wanna see Shaundi again you better come to Cocks”.   
He hung up and she stood there in silence, pondering her options. It surely sounded like a trap but Shaundi was in danger, and she had promised she wouldn’t be another Lin.  
“So this is how it goes, huh?” said amusedly to herself, walking back to her bedroom in the HQs to grab her Kobra and jump inside the first car she found.   
As she steered the wheel and barely avoided to run over a group of pimps, she forced herself to calm down to call the last of her lieutenants.  
“Boss? What-“  
“Veteran Child is trying to get me to meet him at Cocks, and he took Shaundi”.  
“You think’s a trap?”  
“Seein’ as I’m planning to shoot everyone in the bar I’ll feel bad if it’s not”, said with a sadistic smile imprinted on her voice, but then she suddenly sounded more serious again. “Shaundi is counting on us, Pierce. We need to find other places he might take her”  
Pierce had a special relationship with Shandi, and most of the time he was just bickering and whining about her, but the boss knew he felt affection for her and he wouldn’t let her suffer Carlos’ fate.   
“I’m on it”.  
She thought Pierce’s reassuring her would make her feel better, but when she crashed her car against another driver and drew out her gun to shoot at their tires, she realized she was still far from calm. She found herself calling Veteran Child again while driving as fast as she could to Cocks.  
“If you lay one hand on her….”  
“You think I’m scared of you? “  
“Christ you’re annoying, I wonder why Shaundi dropped your ass…”  
“You can’t talk to the triple platinum Veteran Child like that!”  
“Run your mouth all you want, I gonna be shutting it permanently soon”.  
“We’ll see about that, won’t we?”  
She hung up with a maniac grin on her face. Even in the distant future, Playa would prove that whenever she promised to get rid of someone, she’d honor her word.

 

“Boss?”  
“It was a trap like we thought, but Shaundi and VC aren’t here. You have some good news?”  
The leader of the Saints exited Cocks looking quite indifferent now, ignoring her face and tee where covered with blood splatters. She had only killed the Sons of Samedi who tried to kill her as soon as she entered the bar, but less than five minutes later they were lying dead on the floor.  
“Yeah. Veteran Child was scheduled to spin on Track tonight. Want me to get the crew and take him out?”  
“Don’t worry about it, I can handle this”.  
It was the same situation she had years ago with Lin. That girl could dodge bullets and kick ass as long as she wasn’t tied inside the trunk of a car, but Shaundi was weaker and not suited to fight and she knew it. She was almost certain there was a chance she could end up hurt by a friendly fire, so she wasn’t going to risk her life like that, besides Veteran Child wasn’t a Mr. Sharp. She was now smirking because she knew she was going to get him, so she couldn’t help but be a tad arrogant and call him with her happiest voice.  
“You didn’t think that trap would stop me, did you?”  
“Oh shit…”  
“I’ll be honest, I’m kind of insulted”.  
“Fuck me!”  
“You better have some better planned on Track, because if not killing you will probably feel like a letdown”  
“Can’t be fucking happening!”  
“Good talk”.   
The frustration in his voice only fed her confidence and her hunger to kill him, but when she got rid of more Sons trying to kill her at the entrance of Tracks, she realized yet again VC wasn’t planning to win without cheating. Reaching a whole new level of lowness, he recived her using Shaundi as a human shield.  
“You think you can kill me at my club?”  
“Yeah, that’s what I gonna-“  
She had to run and hide behind a pillar when the guy shot at her. He was holding Shaundi while covering vital parts of his body, there was no way she was going to be able to shoot him and he knew it.   
“Ha! So you were saying you were going to permanently shut my mouth?”  
“I still will kid, I’m just givin’ you the privilege to enjoy your last minutes of life”.   
“How sweet of you”  
She tried to fool him, run and try to aim at his head before taking cover behind another pillar, but he was surprisingly agile and moved a terrified Shaundi to cover him entirely while shooting at Playa. This time the bully grazed her arm and she let out a grunt. Well, now that was a pain she knew quite well.  
“Stop, you’re not going to defeat her!”  
“Shut up bitch!”  
“We’re talking about the leader of the Saints, do you really think you’re going to win? She has survived worst things-“  
“Yeah, and you won’t”  
Shaundi. Even as she was being used as a human shield against her she still had faith in her, just like Lin did… There was no way she was going to let her die, and then she saw the body of a Son lying close to her. It was crazy, but she’d use her own human shield as well and get close enough to tackle them down and kill him before he could harm her girl, that was the only way. She grabbed her car keys to throw them on the opposite direction to grab Vc’s attention and then run to grab the body and pull it back to safety, but as she did something fell off from the pockets of the dead son of samedi. It was a sweet fucking miracle.   
“Do you really think that’ll work, saint?”  
“Yo Shaundi, I’m sorry?”  
“Boss?”  
“What you gonna do, shoot through her?”  
“Nope”  
Veteran Child was already tasting his victory, and that overconfidence is what prevented him from seeing the flashbang until it was too late. The deafening sound and the painful bright light were so intense he dropped Shaundi and fell on his knees. By the time he managed to open his eyes and look up, he knew he was fucked. 

“Told ya”.   
The leader of the saints holding her gun under his chin was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

 

“Ugh….”  
“Shaundi, you okay?”  
Playa walked towards her and tried to help her up gently. She was so fucking fragile…  
“My ex-boyfriend’s a dick”  
“Pretty much, yeah”.   
Part of the boss’ anger had vanished now that VC was dead, but she still felt her heart beating like a hammer inside her chest. It didn’t matter how confident she was about killing him, knowing that Shaundi had been in such danger and they barely got out of this still had her uneasy, but again…she had to be strong.  
They walked out of the now empty place, surely people had run away when they heard the shooting and the cops would show up soon, so they had to be quick and get out of there.  
“I can’t believe you got your ass kicked by that chump”  
“Did I mention that my ex-boyfriend’s a dick?”  
“You should go home and rest”  
“If by resting you mean smokin’ an ounce, then hell yeah”.  
“Careful there”  
Playa carefully opened the passenger door and put Shaundi in there. She could hear the sirens already close, so she drove away using one of her secret shortcuts. There was no way they’d make it to the suburbs and she wasn’t going to risk Shaundi’s wellbeing again, so she abruptly changed directions and took out her phone to call Pierce.  
“Boss? Is Shaundi okay?”  
“I’m glad to see you’re so worried about her. She’s fine but weak-“  
“I’m not weak..”  
“Of course not, you’re motherfuckin’ Xena. No, not you Pierce! Listen, call some of the boys and send them to the HQs. I want that place guarded 24 hrs a day from now on, a minimum of 20 per shift. I also want you to send me 6 of our own in two different cars at seven to the address I gonna give you later. I want quiet responsible ones who don’t shoot at everything that moves, not hyperactive and sociopathic like…like... just sent boys who aren’t like Gat or me”.   
“Got it. Laterz then Boss”  
“Boss… this isn’t my place”  
“I know”.  
She parked close to Lin’s apartment. After all the mayhem she caused with her car she knew cops would be looking for them, so she left it there and they’d hid inside her place after the boys showed up.   
“Can you walk?”  
“I don’t know, can I?”  
“Shandi!”  
She had to get out of the car and run to the other side to help her balance again. Her legs bent and she almost hit the floor, but she managed to grab the door and avoid it.  
“I told you I wasn’t weak…”  
“You can barely move, did he harm you?”  
“He hit my head…It’s spinning around, and not in the good way”.  
It was more than obvious she wouldn’t be able to walk more for now, so she grabbed her so suddenly that made the girl in dreadlocks squeak.   
“What are you doing?”  
“Carrying you to my place?”  
“Woah, that has happened before with some of the guys I hooked up with and it didn’t end up good”.   
“I’m not one of the guys you try to hook up with tho.”  
She carried her like a charming prince carries a princess and some of the people around them stopped to look at them, but Playa’s menacing stare would make their attention drift away pretty fast.  
She put her down to open the door and quickly grabbed her again, leaving her delicately over the bed as soon as she walked in. Shaundi was looking slightly better and studying the place curiously.  
“What’s this place?”  
“A secret place. You’re neither allowed to talk about it nor come here to bother me whenever I’m not in the Headquarters”.  
“Ooookay… so why am I here?”  
“Trying to make sure no one’s following us. Some of the guys from the crew are picking you up later and taking you to the HQ’s, by the way. Oh, and I need your house keys”.  
“Why?”  
“To take some of your stuff. You’re not going back there”.  
“But boss…”  
“At least for a while” playa, who was standing next to the bed, walked away to grab more ammo for her gun from her weapons crate and sit on the couch while facing the door. “Carlos is dead, Shaundi. Johnny, who is the toughest motherfucker I know is severely injured in the hospital, and you were kidnapped today and almost killed. They failed today but tomorrow they could try to do something to Pierce or you again, not gonna let that happen. I want you living either at the headquarters or one of the gang’s cribs, at least you won’t be alone”.  
She thought Shaundi would try to fight a little bit more, but she simply shrugged and let out a satisfied “Well, you’re the boss”. Sometimes despite her calm easy going nature she could be just a little stubborn, but maybe the fear of losing her life like that convinced her to accept the boss’ decision.  
“Hey Shaundi?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Thank you for trusting me back there.”  
“No need to thank boss. I know you’d kill him, I tried to warn him. There’s no one else I trust as much as I trust you”.  
She bit her lip and thanked she wasn’t facing her in that moment. A crack in the wall. That’s what Shaundi was to her in that moment. She hated how weak and vulnerable she felt when she saw VC was taking her hostage. She hated how much she cared and how she risked her life for her, knowing she might have died if it wasn’t for that flashbang. However, she still had those moments of weakness when she let out things she meant to keep a secret. Unconsciously repeating the same words she once was promised by someone else years ago, she found herself saying out loud…  
“You gonna be okay. I promise as long as I’m here no one’s gonna hurt you”


End file.
